Cueva en Taninul

Cueva de las Quilas - Cave of the Parrots


Useful Information

Location: At Hotel Taninul, near Ciudad Valles. Follow the road to Tamuin, 9 km from town after the gorge turn right.
Open: All year daily.
[2008]
Fee: Cave: free for hotel guests.
Hotel: double off-season USD 43, season USD 60.
[2008]
Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: bring torch/electric
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Cueva en Taninul, Hotel Taninul, Carretera Valles-Tampico Km.15, Cd. Valles, Tel: +52-481-381-4616, Fax: +52-381-4619/382-0000,
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1808 hot springs discovered.
1945 hacienda converted into a hotel.

Description

Cueva en Taninul (Cave at Taniul) is a huge cavern which was developed as a disco. Actually its name is Cueva de las Quilas (Cave of the Parrots), but it is located at the hotel Taninul and most visitors know it as Cueva en Taninul.

The former hacienda is hotel with a 2.8 km² reserve and a luxurious spa offering therapeutic massages, reflexologies, aromatherapies and aromatic exfoliations. Because of its remote location the prices are moderate. Main feature of the spa hotel are the hot springs, the reson for the hotel slogan donde nace el agua (where the water is born). The springs were discovered in 1808 and soon people travelled here to bath in the water, which was believed to have healing properties. In 1945 the hacienda was converted into a hotel, frequented by the rich and famous. The gustbook signed by seven Mexican presidents, a soccer team and Hollywood stars including Burt Lancaster, Paulette Goddard and Jacqueline Dalya. At this time the hotel had a museum of regional antiquities, an amphitheater and a small zoological garden. Later it fell in disrepair and became disused. Now it has a new management, is repaiered and restorated.

The disco was open a few years ago, but there were incidents between hotel guest and drunken disco goers. And while the hotel was revived, the disco was closed. The cave is rented out for private parties like weddings, at all other times it may be freely visited by hotel guests.

There are numerous sights in the area, like nearby ancient city of Tamtoc with sculptures, reliefs and an observatory. Several tour guide companies offer day tours, and the hotel is a perfect home base for climbers, kayakers, cavers and normal tourists.